


Devils in the Dark

by PepperedMaple



Series: Devils in the Dark [1]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Slow Burn, Spoilers, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2019-12-18 15:03:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18252260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperedMaple/pseuds/PepperedMaple
Summary: My intention is to have this be read as a Character x Reader fic so you can smoothly immerse yourself in my alternate universe for DMC5. Ultimately this will end up in a pairing with V, but be prepared for the slowest burn of your life.Before you get started, you should know that the reader has a set last name, so it's what the other characters will refer to you as during the story instead of something like "(Your Name), [Y/N]". This name is integral to the character and her development, so I hope you can work with it without it ruining immersion!





	1. Amnesia

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is meant to go by pretty quickly as it's sort of just a way to place the characters in a specific point in time while also keeping relevant to some in-game events. Chapter 2 will feature more original content as far as the story goes. 
> 
> This is an AU, but I do wish to keep some events similar to the game since it helps paint clearer pictures in the reader's minds! Enjoy~

_Angry screams and evil laughter echoed loudly in the growing darkness as pain pulsed through your veins, your entire existence being shriveled into nothingness before your very eyes. You make one last effort to grasp at something, anything before you fade away completely, alas, you are unsuccessful. Your vision fades as the noises become louder, suffocating you right down to your core. You try to scream, but you do not exist._

\--------------------  
**30 APRIL 05:45PM**  
\--------------------

Your eyes flick open and a sharp gasp escapes your lips. You lay motionless for a few seconds, allowing your vision to focus. When you come to you realize you're in an alleyway dimly lit by what you can only guess is the setting sun.

" _Where...?_ "

Before you could finish that thought you feel an uncomfortable chill. You look down to see your own nude body resting atop a damp, gray brick ground. You reflexively pull yourself up onto your feet and look around for something to cover up with. Being in an alleyway, your only options were the trash bin about a meter ahead of you or take up being a nudist for a while. The latter seemed smarter as you don't know where the hell you are, so you head over and notice a blue tarp dangling out of the opposite end of the bin.

"This'll have to do." you say to yourself, reluctantly removing the slightly slimy blue tarp from the trash can's stinking confines. Your nose wrinkles in disgust as you wrap yourself up and turn toward the alleyway's exit.

When you get to the road you immediately take note of how quiet it is, possibly due to the time of day. Chatter and the light hum of music can be heard in the distance, but it was too far away to pick up any specifics. You cautiously look both ways before you step into the road pausing after you notice a hooded figure standing outside a halfway opened garage door. The thought crossed your mind to call out to the hooded figure in hopes of grabbing some info off of him, but being unsure of your surrounings you decide to observe for a few minutes. Hooded figures don't give off a very welcoming vibe anyway.

A couple minutes pass and you can hear some chatter again, this time only from one voice. A moment later the hooded person entered the garage as if invited in. With the lack of people around now, you took that as your queue to head over. " _If I can hear their conversation, maybe I can figure something out._ "

As you took your new post and listened in, you noticed that still only one voice could be heard however, you were able to clearly hear the dialogue now. Thankfully you seem to speak the same language as they do.

"You a demon?" the voice asked, the tone serious and calculating.

It took you a couple seconds to grasp what was said. " _Where the hell am I?_ " you ask yourself, your thought soon interrupted by a feminine voice calling out from inside. "Nero, the foods getting cold, what's goi-" and just like that, the voice was drowned out by an urgent call from the person who was speaking earlier.

"Kyrie! Get back inside now!" he bellowed.

Your heart started to race as tension filled the air in an instant. Not half a second had passed before the sound of falling objects on metal rang throughout the street, the ajar garage door not doing a thing to muffle it. You heard pained breathing, this time from two different sources, confusing you even more. It didn't sound like they were currently fighting and the hooded figure certainly wasn't geared up for violence from what you could tell.

"I'm taking this back." the new voice proclaimed before coughing and muttering "I'm running out of time." The sound of metal could be heard again, this time it wasn't from objects falling, it was a smoother sound than that. " _A sword?_ " you ask yourself as the chilling sound of the other person screaming clouded your thoughts. You clutch your chest and take a few deep breaths.

"Wait... wait!" the screaming person says in a pained tone.

The screams were so awful... and paired with the sound of a sword? Someone was no doubt very, very hurt. At that moment, something inside you felt the need to jump into action, to do something, _anything_. You enter the garage which was occupied by a single, profusely bleeding man on the verge of unconsciousness. You didn't know what you were expecting, but it wasn't this.

"I'll get you some help!" you exclaim, placing your hand on the man's back. Before you could even stand though, two more voices came from the small stairwell in the back of the room.  
"Nero!" One of the voices shrieked.  
"I leave you alone for two minutes, what the hell happened?!" the other yelled.

Immediately upon seeing the other two faces you try to explain. No doubt this looked very suspicious. "I-I don't know what happened! I was outside and I heard loud noises, I...!" you glanced at the unconscious man, and back to the two women, one a redhead, the other a frizzy-maned brunette. Your heart started sinking, telling you you shouldn't be here.

"I don't know who you are, but you get the hell away from him!" the red-haired girl screamed, swiftly making her way over. 

"I'm sorry!" you reply, hoisting your tarp-covered body up and away from the scene.

"Wait Kyrie, somethin's not right here." the brunette said in a refreshingly calm (and heavily accented) tone as she took a cigarette out of her breast pocket and placed it between her lips "This dame sure don't look like someone who can knock a grown man unconscious in a matter of seconds."

You were shocked at how rational this woman was being, given the situation. You let out a large sigh of relief.

"What's your name, girl?" the brunette asked.

"My name?" you ask, realizing that on top of everything else you don't seem to recall your own name. You stood in silence, wracking your brain. The answer was dancing on the tip of your tongue.

"Come on, even demons got a name." The remark sparked something in your mind and suddenly a word came to you.

"Buer. I-I think my name is Buer." you say urgently, although a little unsure of yourself. "I-I don't know where I am or how I got here."

The brunette stepped forward, taking a drag of her cigarette "Now that's a stupid name. Well I gotta say, ya ain't helping yer case here much sweetheart," she looked you up and down, "especially when ya look an' smell like rottin' ass."

You cast your vision to the ground, embarrassed and confused.

"Nico stop talking and help me!" the red haired girl urged, her worry for the unconscious man clearly outweighing the need for information.

\----------  
**30 APRIL 07:04PM**  
\----------

"Look, you're lucky we even let you in here after this mess, so just tell me what I need to know!" Kyrie yelled, standing across the room from where you sat.

"I'm telling you, all I remember is what I heard just before entering the garage! I don't know where I'm from or how I got here!" you said back aggressively. Kyrie had been trying to get answers from you for the past half hour after making sure Nero was in stable condition. She was less than pleased to see Nico invite you inside once her anger overrode her need to save the man.

Eventually Nico spoke up, "Alright ladies, let's break it up. This ain't gettin' us anywhere." she was casually leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed. "I think tarp-lady is telling us the truth, Kyrie. Maybe we can't trust her completely but I think we can trust that she doesn't know anything apart from what shes told us."

Kyrie threw her arms up and stomped out of the room in annoyance, letting her shoulder catch Nico's as she departed. "Well, someone's gotta be the voice of reason here." the brunette remarked, rubbing her shoulder as her dark eyes followed the angry redhead out of the room.

"Look, can you please just give me a rundown of where I am and who you people are?" you question, your tone reflecting your lack of energy after Kyrie's unbearably loud interrogation. 

"Well sure, I can at least tell ya that." Luckily Nico didn't seem reluctant to hold back much information and though you could hear Kyrie protesting in the background here and there, you were finally brought up to speed about where you were and who you were with. 

"I was hoping knowing more would bring something back... but I still can't remember a thing." you sigh. "Listen, I'm sorry to have taken up your time. I think I should just leave." you start to get up but Nico hurries toward you.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah, no way, y'aint goin nowhere. Whether ya like it or not, yer a part of this now. My womanly instincts tell me I need to keep an eye on ya, girlie."

Before you could respond, Kyrie came storming in repeating "no" a few times until she locked eyes with you. "There's no way we're letting _her_ stay here!"

Nico put her hands on Kyrie's shoulders and grinned "Hey it ain't no problem, she'll just sleep in the van." she looked at you, her toothy grin digging into your very soul, "I'll keep a very close eye on her."

\---------  
**30 APRIL 9:00PM**  
\---------

"So this is what you meant by 'keeping a close eye' on me?" you asked while a small machine whirred and clattered on top of your head.

Nico grinned, "Well ya got that amnesia thang right? I thought maybe I could do somethin' ta help that. Maybe get some answers."

You couldn't help but think she was taking everything a bit too lightly and it made you feel a little uncomfortable, maybe even suspicious. "Um, so why exactly are you treating me so nicely? Your friend really doesn't like me and I know how suspicious I seem..."

"Oh don't worry about ol' Kyrie, she can be a screechin' old bat sometimes but she means well." Nico took a cigarette out of the carton laying on the counter and lit it, "As for how I'm treatin' ya, well, it's what my Momma woulda done in this situation I think. Can't be leavin' no naked girls ta wonder the street an' all that."

You cracked a smile and suddenly felt relaxed - a welcome feeling amongst all the action in the past few hours. "Thanks." you said simply, your nice moment ruined by the machine on your head starting to hiss and smoke. Suddenly it became apparent to you that maybe the woman is being nice to you moreso because she wanted a guinea pig for the machine she thrust at you as soon as you stepped into the van. At any rate, you weren't at all in the position to question her motives.

"Oh, ohohohoh--" Nico exclaimed as she zoomed over and turned the clattering contraption off. "Aw darn, looks like this'll be more complicated than I thought. Dream recordin' is tough business I s'pose." she glanced down at your mildly surprised face with a quirky grin, "Hey hows about ya get some rest fer tonight? Let's pick this up tomorrow."

A welcome proposal, one you didn't have the energy to question even if your hair was almost just set on fire.

"Sure, sounds good."

\---------  
**1 MAY 07:12AM**  
\---------

_They're screaming at you. You're being pelted by unknown objects. Your skin is burning, twisting as you scream to nobody. You are no one. You disappear._

You open your eyes and sit up, sweat pouring down your face in between quick, shallow breaths.

"Woah girl, chill out!" you hear a familiar voice call out in your general direction followed by a feeling of a weight lifting from your head. "Hoo wee, that coulda been bad. So, what did you dream about?" Nico asked, giving you no time to understand your surroundings.

"I, uh..." you start while you rub your eyes "there was screaming and pain, I guess."

The brunette stroked her chin "Oh hell." is all she said in response.

"Wait, was that thing on my the whole time I was asleep?" you ask, suddenly cluing in to your current predicament.

"Well, not the whole time. But most of it." the brunette said in a confident tone. "Ya see, I came back an' tweaked things after ya fell asleep. Figured all yer brainwaves n' such would be different enough ta make this guy work. Surprised ya didn't wake up as soon as I put the heavy bugger on!" she snorted, slapping the mechanical hat which was still clunking away.

"Well I'd appreciate if you didn't do it again." You rubbed your temples and stood up to stretch. "What even is that thing?" you finally ask, your comfort levels being a bit higher than they were yesterday.

"I ain't makin no promises, Dream Catcher is so close ta being a success." Nico said, laughing and snorting before making her way over to sit next to you. Looks like she's working on some sort of device to record dreams. You briefly recall last night when she also mentioned something about 'dream recording'.

"Anyway, I managed ta convince the lovebirds ta come talk about yesterday, hope yer ready."

You rubbed your eyes once more, and just before you could ask "when?" the door to the van opened revealing a groggy, wounded man and a clearly-still-angry Kyrie. Your first instinct was to sit up straight and keep your eyes to the ground. Maybe it was the heated words you shared with Kyrie, or perhaps the feeling of seeing the badly wounded man up and staring at you sternly that made you feel so immediately uncomfortable. Hell, it was most likely both.

"Loosen up, chickie." Nico said, hitting your arm playfully before confronting the two new additions to the van's living area. "Alright, so I assume you've briefed Mr.No Arm on the situation here?" she asked Kyrie.

"Unbelievable!" Kyrie exclaimed "How could you treat this like such a joke? You're so--" before she could finish the wounded man, Nero, stopped her. "Kyrie it's fine, relax." he said, placing his hand on her shoulder, silencing her.

"I understand you were there yesterday when this happened." he gestured toward his bandaged, bloody stump of an arm which rapidly increased your heart rate. To be honest, you were shocked that he was already up and walking with an injury like that.

"Yes, I heard some of what happened but saw nothing until I came in to let you know I was going to call for help." you said earnestly.

He sighed and stroked his chin "Kyrie brought me up to speed on most of it. Some of us are reluctant to trust you but..." he looked at Kyrie "I don't think this is a situation I want to be cautious about right now. Bastard took my fucking arm."

This man Nero was clearly very hotheaded, but tough and driven. You couldn't help but admire that and compare it to what you knew of Nico's personality. These were strong people who knew what they wanted in life, or at least that's the vibe you got. 

"Nero don't you understand? This woman showed up out of nowhere and happened to be around when you were hurt!" Kyrie said, gesturing toward you.

Nero calmly took hold of Kyrie's shoulders and sat her down on the couch just behind them. "Please just listen to what I have to say before blaming somebody, Kyrie."

It took a good ten minutes, but what happened on Nero's end was described to everyone in the van in the best detail the bloodied man could muster. He detailed the hooded figure, how it was "clearly human" despite essentially vanishing into thin air after removing the arm. Both you and him could attest to the fact that the hooded figure disappeared instead of walked away. What Nero was fuzzy with, you recalled for him even though it was only a few words.

"Wait so he just like, ripped yer arm clean off with his bare hands?" Nico asked, amused.

"Is that all you got out of this?" Nero asked, clicking his tongue.

"Well, who would have the strength ta do that is all I'm askin'." the brunette replied, taking a drag of her newly lit cigarette.

"He said 'I'm running out of time'. What does that mean?" you found yourself asking among the hubbub. Something about the situation had you on high alert, like you needed to make sure this hooded figure didn't achieve its goals. You curled your knees up toward your chin and wrapped the blanket Nico lent you tighter around your body. "Something seems suspicious and very dangerous." you blurt out, not thinking of your own suspiciousness in the situation.

"That's rich coming from y--" Kyrie started, moving to get out of her seat.

"Kyrie, please." Nero urged, sitting her back down before looking at you again. "Look, I don't know who you are or why the hell you were around when I was attacked, but maybe you can help us." the man seemed to project a hint of desperation despite his words and tone sounding confident. You couldn't help but feel unworthy of his sentiment.

"I know not all parties approve," you glance at Kyrie who is staring you down, "but I'd like to do what I can, even if it's only to show you that I'm in the dark as much as you all are."

Nico stood up and clapped, then pointed toward Kyrie. "Looks like you've been overruled, girl!" she said, laughing all the while.

Kyrie quickly stood up and turned toward Nero. Before she could get a word out Nero took her by the arm and led her out of the van. From what you could tell it seemed he had convinced her to stand down for now. She went back upstairs. When he stepped back into the van he approached you and stared directly into your eyes before speaking.

"Whether we like it or not, you're a part of this. You become a threat, we can kill you." The sharp words pierced your chest, but you knew you were in no position to oppose the statement.

"I understand." you agree reluctantly. You could help but feel unease that your life was essentially in the grasp of these strangers while you still remained a stranger to yourself.

As if on queue to break the tension, Nico's voice rang through the van as you pondered your situation. "Radio says there's some weird root growin' near town hall, y'all!" she exclaimed, a hint of excitement carrying through her voice. "Wanna go check it out?"

Nero sighed and made his way to the passenger side seat at the front of the van, "So desperate for a job you're willing to look into the mayor's gardening plans, huh?" he says snarkily.

You raised your brows in disbelieve at the sheer strange chemistry the two people shared, especially in the midst of an extremely unusual situation. It's like the tone in the area changed in an instant. Though as refreshing as the comedy routine was, you couldn't help but feel like a waste of space among these people who had so much personality. Next to them you felt like a husk of an existence what with not knowing anything about yourself and all. Still, you had no choice but to play along. "What do you guys _do_?" you had to ask.

Nico turned around in the driver's seat and took a drag of her second cigarette of the morning. "Devil huntin'." she said through a toothy grin.

"No, like seriously." you retort.

Nero slumped down in the passenger seat beside the kooky brunette "Let's see if you can make yourself useful."


	2. (Un)Natural Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discoveries are made and you recall fragmented bits of your past, including your aptitude for alchemy - what could any of it mean? Before you can figure any of it out a mysterious man confronts Nero about a certain demon.

 

\---------  
**1 MAY 08:51AM**  
\---------

The van clattered and shook as Nico drove recklessly toward Red Grave city's center. You were taken along as 'help', yet you had no clue what there was for you to do, especially if you considered the whole apparent 'demon hunting' aspect of things. Nico didn't sound like she was lying, and Nero didn't deny anything, so here you all were, en route to some sort of situation. As you sat in the rumbling vehicle, you keep trying to make sense of what that could mean. Surely it wasn't meant to be taken literally. Are they some strange vigilante crew perhaps?

" _No, that doesn't seem right_." you think to yourself, the bumpy ride unaffecting your thought process. Come to think of it, you didn't know a thing about, well, _anything_ so how can you decide what's far fetched and not? You rub your temples upon realizing once again how in the dark you are about literally everything and decide to stop thinking about it for now. At least your basic human instincts seemed in tact.

"Welp, looks like we're here." Nico said, her accented voice chipper as usual.

You stood up and made your way to the side door window. Upon moving the gaudy floral print curtain to the side you notice a group of people hovering around what you presumed to be the 'root' that the radio kept mentioning. Luckily the group wasn't big, so scoping the thing out wouldn't be too complicated.

"Well, let's go see what we're dealing with." Nero said, turning his head toward you "you come too."

"Uh... Ok." you respond, still quite baffled that you're here with them in the first place.

The three of you open your doors and exit the creaky van wasting no time heading toward the center of the commotion. What you saw when you pushed a little past the small crowd was... abnormal to say the least. It was just as the radio programs said - a pulsating root coming out of the grass near the walls of the city center. Upon further inspection, the root didn't appear to be growing anywhere else and the space this one took up was maybe about the size of a small animal.

Nico clicked her tongue "Aw dang, this is what all that commotion was about? It's a tiny lil' shit of a thang!"

Nero sighed -- he seemed to do that a lot around this woman. "Let's take a closer look before deciding it's not our problem." the man pushed his way past a couple more people and crouched down close to the root. "Hey, why don't you come closer? Who knows, maybe this thing will help you remember something."

It was a strange prospect that a weird root would help you with your amnesia problems, but there was no point in questioning Nero right now. At least the spooky spectacle was evidence to support Nico's earlier 'demon hunters' claim, setting that part of your mind at ease -- or something close enough to ease.

You crouched down next to the silver-haired man and looked closer at the root. "Wow, this thing is weirder close up." you remark, noticing its many small thorns among the twisting, dark grey bark. You're not sure why, but you had the urge to try touching it... and so you did. As soon as your hand brushed the gnarled mass, a great pain shot through your arm and up to your brain causing your vision to blur and your throat to erupt into a scream almost immediately.

"Shit!" Nero exclaimed in total shock. He responded swiftly and took you by the arm, easily lifting you up to your feet and away from the root amongst the equally shocked crowd. "Nico, get her in the van!" he urgently suggested to the brunette who was already in the process of opening the van's side door.

The pain continued, taking you away from your surroundings and enveloping you completely before rendering you unconscious.

_Screaming. Pain. A distorted voice._  
_"...Y-- ar- -e---f-rt- ba-i---..."_  
_Nothingness._

\---------  
**1 MAY 11:29AM**  
\---------

You awoke to Nico hovering uncomfortably close to your face, an unlit cigarette hanging limply out of her mouth. "Well hey there, I was wonderin' how long ya were gunna sleep for." You prop yourself up on your elbow and pat the top of your throbbing head to check for any foreign objects before letting out a long sigh and slumping back down into your previous position.

"What happened?" you ask, only vaguely recalling the incident from earlier.

"You freaked out after touching that root." Nero asked, making his way toward you from the passenger seat. "Looked painful."

" _The root_." you thought to yourself. You might as well have had the energy of a thousand suns when you shot up and grabbed Nico by the arm. "The root! Are we still near it?" you ask urgently.

Nico, rightfully taken aback by your sudden outburst yanks her arm away and replies "Like a 5 minute drive -- wait, don't tell me ya wanna go back ta that thang! Ya were screamin' like a dang banshee back there!"

"I need to go back!" you exclaim "Please, take me back to it!"

Nero spoke up, "Hey it looks like she might have remembered something. Let's take her back."

"Alright well don't blame me if she goes bonkers again." the brunette said, sauntering her way over to the driver's seat.

You arrive at your destination minutes later only to find a bigger crowd gathered around now. "Looks like ya caused quite a stir there, girlie." Nico remarked.

"Nero, can you get me some of that roots thorns?" you ask, completely ignoring Nico's commentary.

"Uh sure, but why?" the silver haired man asked.

"I... I don't know... there's just something telling me I need them!" you say, the urgency in your voice still very much apparent.

"Well alright." A couple minutes later he comes back with a few small thorns. "Sheesh, they're on that thing like flies on shit. Wasn't easy to grab these, but here you go." he says, thrusting his hand toward you. "Just don't go screaming again, alright?"

You hastily grab the thorns from his outstretched hand and immediately feel a tiny stinging sensation in your palm, thankfully it was nothing like the pain from before. "I think I can do something with this. Nico, is there a bowl and something I can use to crush it with?" you ask to the now curious brunette.

"Yeah sure, lemme grab ya somethin'." she heads over to the little counter in the back of the van and loudly pushes some tools around until she finds what she's looking for. "Aha, here, go ahead an' use these." she hands you a small steel bowl and a short metal rod. As she handed you what you requested you could see a sort of sparkle in her eye, like she was excited about what may come next.

"This will do fine, thank you." You take the tools and drop the thorns into the bowl, crushing them into a fine powder with ease. "I need a knife." you then ask, holding your left hand out while continuing to grind the thorns. Nico was swift in her delivery of a handy little utility knife she pulled out of her shorts pocket. You use your thumb to flick out one of the few blades on the tool and bring it to your forefinger, creating a small cut which allowed you to drip a good five drops into the bowl.

At this point both Nero and Nico were taken in by their curiosity, both closely watching your sudden burst of unknown inspiration. Just as soon as the droplets of blood splashed into the bowl the mixture began dimly glowing with an eerie green hue, prompting all of you to look even closer. You mix the two ingredients until they begin to form a paste-like texture. Particles of the thorn dust remained a glowing green but as a whole the mixture looked sort of tar-like with a thick consistency.

"Ok, so if I'm correct, this should..." you dip your newly cut finger into the paste, swipe some up and watch as it dissolves into your skin. What's left is... a healthy, normal finger - no cut to be seen.

There was a moment of silence before two dumbfounded voices boomed throughout the van, both exclaiming in their own forms of sheer amazement.

"Well I'll be a monkey's tits! How the hell ya do that?!" Nico questioned as excited as could be.

You took a second to admire your own handiwork before answering. "I just got this feeling after I touched that root, like... 'I can use that' and it sort of just came to me to do this. I'm... not sure why I passed out though." upon saying that you remember the dream you had again. It seems that it's the same every time you close your eyes... you aren't given very much time to reflect on this however -- the gawking pair had a lot to say.

"Gawsh I have so many questions!" Nico exclaimed, grabbing your freshly healed finger to inspect it closer. Her voice had a certain madness to it that you couldn't quite put your finger on, but you found it endearing.

"Hold that thought, Nico. I think we should head back to Kyrie." the man was right, it was probably better to save the Q&A session for later so you could gather your thoughts in the meantime.

"Aw fine." the brunette replied "Let's hope Kyrie let's her get a decent word in this time."

\---------  
**1 MAY 01:01PM**  
\---------

"Hey Kyrie, yer never gonna guess what happened!" Nico yelled, rushing her way up to the trio's living quarters, leaving you and Nero behind.

You weren't excited to be around Kyrie again, but maybe the fact that something came back to you will ease her mind a bit. On the ride back you recalled a little more about yourself, making you eager to share your thoughts with everyone -- they may know something based of the information you can now give. You thought about telling them about the recurring dreams you kept having as well, but decided against it for the time being. It was probably just stress terrors anyway.

As you and Nero made your way up the stairs he pat you on the shoulder "Hey, try not to worry about Kyrie. She'll warm up to you soon enough... I mean as long as you don't turn out to be a threat."

"Thanks, Nero." you said through a chuckle. Somehow you felt a little calmer after that. You were very lucky to find yourself among a duo if such open-minded (albeit a bit strange) people.

Nero led you to the kitchen, well lit by a big window on the leftmost wall and organized rather neatly. The room was modestly decorated with wooden furniture and the walls were painted a lovely shade of burgundy, giving it a calming and mature vibe. Kyrie was at the counter preparing what looked like simple sandwiches and a vegetable platter while chattering with the ecstatic Nico.

Hearing you take your seat the red-haired woman speaks up, keeping her attention on lunch preparations. "I understand you remembered something." she said surprisingly calmly. She must have taken some time to think and calm down by now, or maybe Nero said something earlier to chill her out. Whatever the reason, you were thankful to talk to her in a much more stress-free manner.

"I touched this weird root and apparently passed out..." you start.

"Well, she screamed bloody murder an' probably made a few locals crap themselves first." Nico added. You just glanced at her and continued.

"Uh, yeah... anyway, when I came to I had this urge to try something , I--"

Again, Nico interrupted you "She made some sort of healin' goop out of nowhere! It was like nothin' I've ever se--" before she could continue Nero clicked his tongue at the excited brunette, "Nico, pretty sure she can speak for herself. Chill out." she sighed and sat back in her seat, making an over-exaggerated 'zipping-my-mouth-shut' gesture to Nero before turning her gaze toward you.

"Well long story short, yeah, that's what happened." you shifted in your seat "I remembered some things on the way back that might reveal a bit more, but unfortunately my memories are still very, very fragmented."

Kyrie, who was finally finished with lunch prep, took the two large platters in either hand and placed them on the table before sitting down herself. Nero wasted no time digging in, going straight for the neatly prepared meat & cheese sandwiches. "Make sure you have some of the vegetables too, Nero." she said to the hungry man, who just nodded briefly before stuffing another quarter sandwich into his mouth. You clued in to the fact that they were a couple, but this scene made them look more like mother and son. "So, what did you remember then?" the redhead finally urged.

You took a deep breath and gathered your thoughts as to not leave anything out, "I may have an extensive background in natural medicine and even poison-making... not just that, but I vaguely recall seeing myself giving someone... something, I think." you lean forward in your seat, resting your chin on your clasped fingers. "That's where it gets blurry when I try to think further about it. I see my own hands and they're sort of... glowing. I can't remember if there was actually someone there but I was clearly reaching out with something in my hand."

Nico quickly took her chance to speak up again before anyone else could. "So yer some kinda like... voodoo doctor or somethin' then?" you screwed up your face in her general direction and shrugged.

"That still doesn't give us much to go on." the stern-faced Kyrie remarked before letting out a short sigh "...but at this point it feels wrong to keep the hostility up." Her facial expression softened significantly, "Now, assuming you're being completely truthful here, I don't feel like someone who has healing knowledge can be all bad. That doesn't explain 'poison-making' you mentioned though, so I'm still reluctant to place any trust in you." she said honestly. Well, it was progress at least, more than you could have hoped for so soon after such a traumatizing event for the woman. You took a second to appreciate her clearly kind-hearted nature.

"I don't know what to tell you other than I feel me experimenting is probably my only option here. If a recipe can come back to me this way, maybe other things will, too." The words you spoke were of sound logic, even Kyrie had trouble arguing. "Besides, Nero has already told me that if I become a threat he won't hesitate to kill me."

Kyrie cracked a half smile and caressed Nero's still overstuffed cheek "Of that I have no doubt, but I hope it doesn't have to come to that." she then gestured toward the platters she had set down earlier, "Now please, eat. If you're going to do this right I think we'd all like you to have some energy." You nodded and went to reach for a sandwich, but there were no more to be found. A quick look at your two new 'coworkers' told you everything you needed to know. Seems like your short memory recalling excursion went on a few minutes too long.

After a rather loud belch (and a stern glance from Kyrie) Nero finally spoke up to put his two cents in. "So she definitely comes with us from now on, huh? The root we saw looked a lot like the spawn of some demon. If Buer here can make stuff with it, she should be able to do more with other stuff we find." A logical proposal.

"Aw yeah, let's hunt some demons! I've got some new ideas for yer arm there anyway." Nico added gleefully before thoughtfully stroking her chin. "Probably take me a while ta get anythang workable, though..."

Nero reached toward his missing arm. "I need to find the bastard that did this. My gut tells me he might have something to do with the root appearing."

"Oh no, you're not hunting anything until you're healed up, Nero." Kyrie scolded.

You somehow felt at ease amongst the bickering that took place after the redhead's Mom-mode initiated, and took the opportunity to fill yourself up on some vegetables. It felt good to finally eat something.

\---------  
**1 MAY 07:01PM**  
\---------

Several hours had passed since you briefed everyone on what you recalled earlier. In that time it was agreed upon that you'd contact a fellow demon hunter by the name of Dante before proceeding. Apparently if anyone would know anything, it would be him. The three of you sat around in the garage discussing specifics before Nero decided to get up and make a call. With Kyrie being on edge and the man not wanting to stress her out further, all you could do was gather information for the time being.

"His phones disconnected." Nero said before huffing and slamming the phone back down on its perch. "Some business he's running there, guess we've gotta do this the hard way."

"What, ya mean like now?" Nico replied "Nuh-uh man, we gotta tune up tha van before heading down there. We didn't get ta finish shit last time cause ya were too busy gettin' yer arm ripped off an' the drive today took a lot more outta her." Nero scoffed in response and silently made his way to his toolbox - he knew the pushy brunette was right regardless of the unnecessary arm comment.

"If I may put my thoughts in here, I'd like to take a while to do the experimenting I previously mentioned." you asserted to your new comrades. Nico perked up immediately while Nero rummaged around in his toolbox.

"Honestly, I was gunna suggest the same thang." the brunette took a drag of her half-finished cigarette, "If we can figure out how ta weaponize ya, we'll have an easier time doin whatever it is we end up doin." You might have felt uneasy about such a suggestion earlier, but with your new knowledge came a bit more confidence. " _Interesting what can happen in the span of a day._ " you thought to yourself.

Nero wasted no time breaking your thought process, "I don't know if I agree to making her fight..." he said, "at most we know she _might_ be able to use poisons -- what good would that do us against demons?"

Nico visibly and quite over-exaggeratedly rolled her eyes at the silver haired man. "I need ya to take a second and think of who yer talkin' to here, tough guy." she paused briefly, though not long enough for Nero to answer her question, "That's right, yer talkin to me -- AKA a mechanical _genius_."

Nero sighed while opening the hood of the van, "Ok so what, you gonna make her some sort of squirt gun to spray the bad guys with?"

The brunette just snickered. "Once you see what I have in mind for yer arm, I don't think yer gunna complain. Let's just let the lady do her lil' experiments an' we'll go from there."

You chuckled at the woman's enthusiasm -- her positive attitude would prove to be very motivating in the coming weeks.

\---------  
**2 Weeks Later**  
**15 MAY 05:23PM**  
\---------

" _Hoo-wee_ , this one smells like that one-armed shithead!" Nico said, waving her hand in front of her face, dramatically coughing all the while. If Nero weren't out at the moment he'd no doubt have something to say in rebuttal.

You laughed, "Well it _is_ meant to function as a stink bomb."

The poisons and tonics you'd been working on for the past couple weeks have been quite the adventure, to say the least. Your few memories proved to be handy in your experiments as you were able to make quite the assortment of goods from local flora alone, all based on simple instinct. When you mixed ingredients, no matter what they were, it was as if you were able to able to feel their energy. Like you were mixing your aura with their own to produce stunningly unique concoctions. You still had no idea what any of it meant, but it felt good to be in some kind of element for once. Nico had been a big help too, offering herself as a test subject for various salves you managed to create -- thankfully none of these new ones used your blood like the first one, though it seemed the new ones were far less potent as a result. The poisons were not able to be tested as easily, so you only created them here and there on Nico's advice to wait until the group can go back out and 'kick demon ass'. If you were going to help, you had to make sure your weaponized alchemy could work on the otherworldly beings. In return for Nico helping you with your concoctions, you helped her with her mechanical experiments, one being the supposed "Dream Catcher". It was still far from being a success as all it did was give you headaches and make a lot of noise.

As you finished up your newest creation, the familiar rumble of the van could be heard making its way toward the garage. "Speak of the devil." you said, glancing toward Nico who was tinkering with some sort of mechanical mass. The beige vehicle pulled in swiftly, almost knocking over a shelf on its way in.

"Hey, watch it!" Nico exclaimed.

"Hey it's not my fault if shit gets in the way." Nero retorted over the rumbling engine.

"You were the one who moved that there, ya dickhead!" the brunette responded.

You found it hilarious that the two could barely be in the same space for more than 2 seconds without one of them trying to start something. You learned to appreciate the comedy routine more and more as the days rolled on. "Find anything interesting?" you asked Nero, both in an effort to break the two up and because you were pretty curious.

The two had been taking opportunities to scope the areas around the city out as you worked tirelessly on your blends - it's all Kyrie would allow the two to do given Nero's condition. The strange roots started appearing rapidly after the first day and were not something the pair wanted to take lightly due to Nero's suspicions after the arm incident.

"More people are dead and the problem keeps growing, literally." Nero said as he stepped out of the van, slamming the door behind him. "Apparently there's a giant tree thing near the first root we scoped out in Red Grave." he roamed to the garage door and shut it only half way -- it had become commonplace to do so due to yours and Nico's constant tinkering and experiments since deciding you'd help fight with them.

"Wha-- are ya kiddin' me? We were just there like 3 days ago checkin' on thangs an' all there was were more roots. Yer tellin' me a whole dang tree managed to spring up since then?!" Nico recounted hastily.

"Yeah, and apparently it's pretty big, too." the man responded.

"Aw hell." the brunette cursed, taking a cigarette up to her lips while getting out of her seat. "Whatever, I'm goin' upstairs ta see what Kyries makin' fer dinner - Buer, watch him an' make sure he don't get that other arm ripped off while I'm gone ok?"

"Sure thing!" you said, maybe a little too happily while sealing off your newly created stink bomb. When you turned around Nero was aggressively flipping the bird at the sassy woman's back as she ascended the stairwell. It was then that you noticed a silhouette standing outside the garage door, the overpowering springtime sun not allowing you to discern any details from the stationary figure.

"Nero..." you said briskly, your gaze remaining fixed on the ajar door.

The silver-haired man looked at you, then over his shoulder, immediately responding to the figure by taking his sword, Red Queen, off the shelf closest to him, gripping it tightly. "Better show yourself quick before I start swinging!" he said in a threatening tone. There was no doubt in your mind that his heart must have skipped a few beats -- this is the exact same picture from that day two weeks ago.

The owner of the voice extended some kind of lengthy object to the bottom of the garage door and began lifting it up. As your vision focused under the glaring rays of sun brought further inside by the opening door, you noted that this presence didn't feel particularly threatening... more than that, it felt almost familiar.

The silhouette started lowering his head to make his way inside, " 'He who has suffer'd you to impose on him... knows you'." a deep, silken voice droned.

" _Poetry?_ " was your first thought.

As soon as the owner of the voice stepped inside you couldn't help but be immediately intrigued by all the tattoos covering his pale skin. It's a good thing Nero couldn't see through your eyes right now, because your lack of urgency upon viewing this unknown person was not what it should be given the situation. Giving yourself a mental slap in the face, you tighten your grip on the stink bomb you had finished and sealed earlier, just in case things went south. The mystery man started to speak again.

"I assure you, I mean no harm." he said calmly, now shifting some weight onto the long object which you could see now was a cane.

"Oh, this ones _polite_." Nero said with a sneer. "You here to take my other arm too?"

You loosen up a bit and step toward the guarded man "Nero, he could just be a client." you suggest in attempt to calm him down. It seems the incident with his arm effected him more than he let on.

Nero exhaled and fixed his posture, though his blade remained drawn "Well, are you?" he asked simply.

"I am not here to take your arm, rather, I am here to tell you where it is." the tattooed man claimed calmly.

Nero screwed up his face and lowered his blade a smidge. "Who are you?"

"Please, call me V." the man replied coolly.

"Ok then _V_ , care to elaborate for us?" the silver haired man demanded, now annoyed with the continued vagueness of this mystery man.

V stood there stoically, unphased by Nero's attitude. "If I am correct, you are acquainted with a man named Dante." He paused and fiddled with his cane a moment before continuing, "He is currently on his way to do battle with the demon that took your arm - and Yamato's power."

" _Yamato?_ " you ask yourself. You've definitely heard that name before, however you couldn't remember if it was simply in passing during your time with Nero and Nico, or from somewhere else. Either way, the word sent an uncomfortable chill down your spine.

"Hold on, how do you know any of this?" Nero replied, his blade now lowered completely but his expression remaining rigid.

"I happen to be pursuing the same demon. I approached Dante for help, but... it became _painfully_ apparent that we would not be sufficient against the threat."

The silver-haired man scoffed "Dante, needing help? You gotta be shittin' me." he replaced his sword to its spot on the shelf. "What do you want me to do?" he then gestures to his missing arm.

V inspected Nero through the dark hair covering his eye "I merely thought you'd wish to take back what was stolen from you."

You had remained silent for most of the conversation but you felt the need to speak up now. This V didn't seem like he was out to hurt anyone, and even though you had your doubts, you thought the opportunity too good not to take advantage of. After all, if it was your arm that was stolen you'd want it back too. Maybe it was this recklessness that enabled you and Nero to respect each other so quickly.

"Nero, I think it would be a good idea to at least check it out. I've got more than enough stock to help out in any way I can." you propose, gesturing to a large storage shelf, half full of your recently alchemized goods.

The disgruntled man threw his head back and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before pointing in your direction. " _You're_ not going anywhere right now. I'll go check it out myself." He grabbed Red Queen off the shelf once again. "Cover for me, don't tell Nico or Kyrie where I'm going."

The previously statue-like V shifted his stance moving to block Nero's way with his cane. " 'Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.' ... May I suggest you rest beforehand?"

Nero scoffed "First you want me to go, now you want me to rest? You ain't helping your case here, pal."

You've been around Nero enough in the past couple weeks to know that it takes some prodding to get him to take a breather in the lightest of situations. The man lets his hotheadedness cloud his logic far more than he'd probably like to admit. "I think rest would be smart if its being suggested to you by someone who knows the situation, Nero. This demon doesn't sound like a pushover, and by the sounds of it it doesn't look like he'll be going anywhere anytime soon."

V's gaze shifted to you for a moment, then back to Nero "The woman speaks the truth."

Nero took a deep breath and put Red Queen down yet again, throwing up his hands in defeat directly afterward, "Fine. At least tell me where to find this demon so I know where I hell I'm going."

"Meet me outside tomorrow at noon." the black-haired man advised. "I will lead you there."

"Great, now get out." Nero commanded, bothered by the lack of action taking place after learning the new information.

V popped the cane up and out of his hand, catching it with his grip in the middle of the object. He smirked and fixed his gaze on you for a few seconds before turning around, quietly making his way outside and away from the garage.

"He was certainly... _different_." you remark, attempting to lighten the mood a little.

"Yeah." Nero said simply before heading upstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I guess it helps that V finally makes his appearance here, but I do have to admit I'm a bit nervous about continuing to write him as I'm not super well-versed in poetry or fancy words. Let's hope my version of V ends up being enjoyable in the chapters to come.  
> Thanks for reading!


	3. So It Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Nero brings home news of the demon tree growing in Red Grave and Dante's surprising struggle with its ruler, you find yourself tagging along to aid the demon slayer in a small scale mission to rid the city of some pests. Much to your surprise, it seems a certain mysterious man has requested your presence and awaits at the scene.

\---------  
**16 MAY 10:10PM**  
\---------

"Yo, where the hells Nero at?" Nico asked you after noticing the time. It wasn't like her silver-haired comrade to come home this late while he was letting his arm heal up.

Of course, you knew the answer right away to where he was, but you swore to Nero you'd keep it from the girls until he got back with more information. "No clue." you say as convincingly as you possibly can. Luckily the loud-mouthed woman believed you without question. " _Well that was easy_." you thought to yourself, mildly entertained but feeling a pang of guilt at the same time. You didn't exactly have much trust built up yet, and the potential consequences of breaking the minuscule amount you did have bubbled up inside your thoughts in an instant. You were so set on wanting to aid Nero in finding out about his situation you didn't stop to think about anything else before he left this afternoon.

"Actually, Nico..." you began quietly.

As if scheduled though, the tell-tale rumble of the group's van was heard in the distance amongst the quiet night air. Looks like Nero would be here to spill the details himself pretty quick. You got up and lifted the garage door open to allow the man to pull in quickly when he arrived.

"What was that ya were gunna say?" Nico questioned, not looking away from her current project.

"Oh, it was nothing." you respond, peering out to the road where you could see the familiar yellow-tinted headlights beaming in your direction. "Looks like Neros back, better get ready to welcome him home." you tease.

"Yeah I'll welcome him home alright, with a mighty _ass-kickin_ '."

The vehicle backed in a few minutes later, parking in its usual spot. As Nero got out of the van, Nico swiftly maneuvered around her work table, holding a wrench as if ready to throw it. "Where the hell were ya?! Kyrie an' I wer--"

"Listen, the situation in Red Grave has taken a turn for the worse." the man interrupted, unphased by Nico's vaguely threatening gesture. His tone of voice was serious enough to make the brunette shift gears in a flash and suddenly she was no-sass, all ears. It was times like this when you realized just how close the two were, as Nico clearly understood Nero's mannerisms to a tee where you did not.

"What's going on?" you and Nico ask in unison.

"Listen Nico, I need you to promise me you'll keep what I'm about to tell you from Kyrie." Nero urged, placing his hands on the brunette's shoulders.

"Ugh," she shrugged his hands off and proceeded to snatch a cigarette out of her breast pocket, "well I'll hear ya out at least, it's not common for ya ta keep anythin' from her, so this must really be important."

"I went to the demon tree in Red Grave. Its housing the son of a bitch who stole my arm." Nero started, now beginning to pace the garage "We need to go do _something_!"

"Woahwoahwoah, now assumin' yer not shittin' us here, we can't just head over there an' snatch that arm back all willy nilly - you ain't in fightin' shape yet, champ." Nico counseled, "Like, how do ya know alla this in the first dang place?"

The silver-haired man responded by telling his friend of yesterday when the mysterious man V arrived with information out of nowhere, also revealing that you were in the know about the occurence. Nico seemed none to pleased about the situation but let the man finish his story regardless.

"After I left today V took me to that tree, where I found _Dante_ losing to that damn demon!" Nero started pacing again, scowling at the ground all the while. "Piece of shit called me 'dead weight' when I showed up, acting like I didn't do shit to help..." he trailed off, mumbling curses to himself.

"Well no shit, dumbass! Ya went in there, armless as ya are an' expected to take on some crazy demon even Dante himself couldn't beat? Hate ta break it to ya, but ya _are_ dead weight in that situation an' that's just a stone cold _fact_!" Nico said bluntly.

The enraged man brought his hands to his head and scrunched his short silver locks with his fingers. It seems his rage was keeping him from saying anything in response, that is, if he was even listening at this point.

"Nero." you said, your gaze fixed to follow him as he paced. "I get that this situation is tough on you, but you need to calm down and start making preparations if you want to take the fight back to that demon as soon as possible." as usual you attempted to break the tension with a logical approach.

Nero sighed deeply, letting his hands fall to his sides, a scowl still present on his face "I...know." he said quietly, admitting defeat - for now.

"Nico and I have been slaving away on our projects... I think if she has a bit more time especially, we can become one hundred percent fighting fit in a month or so. I do believe she's almost done with my weapon at the very least." you say in a soft tone, attempting to comfort the man as best you could.

Nico cracked a smile and stepped back over to her workbench where her newest creation lay. Her excitement to reveal her newest 'work of art' trumped the need to remain totally serious. "This baby'll launch them fancy poison bombs n' such at the demons with kickass speed. She's ready fer testin' after all the tinkerin' I got done today." she lifted some kind of hand-held launcher off the table and held it up proudly. You couldn't help but feel a little nervous at the sight of it considering it meant training you for battle in the coming days.

Nero briefly eyed the launcher before silently making his way up stairs.

"Guess he just needs some time to cool off?" you suggest, breaking the awkward silence. "So... care to show me how that thing works?"

Nico put her newest creation back down and brought her cigarette between her lips "I'll give ya a rundown on it tomorrow. Fer now ya best be countin' yer lucky stars that I ain't beatin' yer ass all over the damn place fer keepin' somethin' like that from me."

" _I deserve that_." you thought to yourself. "I apologize, Nico. Won't happen again."

"Sure as hell better not."

\---------  
**17 MAY 08:00AM**  
\---------

You awoke from yet another night without those strange nightmares. As you sat up you pondered said nightmares briefly before swinging your feet off the black leather couch and yawning the last bit of tiredness out of your system. Nero letting you stay in the van at night has been nice and despite the lack of maneuvering space, you've managed to get plenty of decent sleep recently.

As you went about your morning business, a commotion could be heard upstairs, slightly muffled through the closed doors of the van. " _They're being pretty loud for the time of day it is_." you tell yourself, now making your way out of the stuffy vehicle.

"I told you, you're not going anywhere to fight anything yet!" Kyrie yelled at an angry Nero, who was stomping down the stairs in your direction, followed by Nico who was trying to stop him by grabbing at his arm. Looks like the man hadn't calmed down one bit since yesterday's events and on top of that had clearly let it slip to Kyrie where he had been.

"I need to do _something_!" Nero argued, shrugging Nico's hand off his shoulder as he made a beeline for the van's driver-side door. "You, you're coming with me." he said, jabbing his finger in your general direction.

"Uh, woah, wait! What the hell is going on?" you ask, dumbfounded.

"Because of _you_ , Nero put himself in a dangerous situation th--" Kyrie started, that familiar glare staring daggers into your entire being. She was such a kind-hearted soul and you could tell her and Nero didn't argue often, so it almost pained you to see her like this again.

"It wasn't her fault, Kyrie! I went because I wanted to. I told her to keep the secret - we've already been through this!" Nero argued. "Please, just let me go so we can start training!" the man had a hint of desperation in his voice that stirred something in Kyrie. She held her hand to her chest and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I just want you to be safe. I know this is a part of your job but you're rushing into things!" the redhead said in a much calmer tone than before. "Your arm, it's..."

"My arm is fine." the silver haired man interrupted. "I've let myself heal enough. I have Red Queen and I'll have a partner with me. I want - no - I _need_ to go."

Nico, who had been fairly quiet through the duration of the argument finally took a minute to speak up "I'm seein both sides here an' honestly I think we should just let tha man go. He told ya what tha job was, right? Nothin' but small fry." she asked her frazzled girl friend, who simply nodded in response.

You couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. This was a lot of drama for the first hour of your morning and just thinking of going on an apparent job this soon sent your head spinning. "I'm happy to help Nero, but I don't even know how my weapon works. Can you slow it down for a bit so I can prepare properly? I won't be of any help if you just toss me out there."

"You're right, I'm sorry." was his response, and with that, the mood in the garage changed entirely as preparations began.

\---------  
**17 MAY 10:16AM**  
\---------

Two hours had passed since this morning's heated argument. The quarreling couple managed to calmly reconcile and in that time Nico had been (very enthusiastically) educating you on the purpose of your weapon as well as giving you several warnings about the machinery involved. "Shes jus' tha prototype so don't go crazy with 'er, now. Asshole over there should be able ta handle most of tha work considerin' you're jus' dealin' with lil shits today." she mentioned. Nico wouldn't be joining you, as she still had a lot of work to do on her other newest creation -- Nero's new arm.

The weapon was a small launcher to be strapped to your forearm, much like a crossbow in terms of general functionality. Place a concoction in the small cavity at the back, pull the small lever on the side, and _bam_! You send things flying in any direction you'd like. It was certainly unique, but you could tell this thing would be hard on your arm with prolonged use as the spring mechanism it functioned on caused quite a bit of recoil. When voicing your concerns, Nico simply said there was not much to be done until you could gather more information following a bit more use.

The two of you tested the launching mechanism using a few random things laying around the garage, basically confirming that the launcher dealt best with rounder objects. Luckily all the glassware you managed to procure for your mixtures were all of a rounder make -- seems Nico may have noticed that before constructing your new tool.

"Alright, it looks like things are about ready on my end." you say to no one in particular before heading over to Nero who had fallen asleep sitting in the driver's seat of the van. "Ey, Nero, I'm good to go on my end... uh, I think." The realization that you'll be out on a job hit you once again, causing your heartbeat to go into overdrive. Its only been less than a month since you awoke without your memories yet here you were, preparing to go on some sort of demon hunting excursion with - from what you could remember - no battle experience. " _How did it turn out this way?_ " you think to yourself before Nero responded to your wake up call.

"Alright then, get in so I can tell you about what we're doing today." the sleepy man suggested.

"Ah, ah, wait a dang minute you two." Nico interrupted "I know y'all just dealin' with weenies today, but be careful. Armless an' lack a battle experience don't go well together." she said, pointing at the both of you, her gaze lingering on Nero for a few seconds.

"We'll be fine, Nico. V will be meeting us there anyway."

The brunette scoffed, raising her brow, "Wow, ya got some extra security? I'm surprised."

Nero scoffed in return "He's already in the area to help with evacuation and rescue shit, it's not like I asked for help." he said, slightly annoyed.

"Don't get yer panties in a twist, asshole." Nico teased "I'm sure y'all will get yer fill a killin' either way -- Just make sure yer support stays behind ya, she don't know how them demon thangs work yet an' all." the brunette moved her focus toward you, now sitting in the passenger seat of the van. "Watch yer back girl, and make sure ta watch his too."

"Got it. I'll do my best." you say as confidently as you could muster. " _This is really happening_."  
  
Still, the fact that someone else would be there calmed you down, even if only a tiny bit. Times like this reminded you how fortunate you were to find yourselves amongst these specific people in your time of inner confusion.

\---------  
**17 MAY 11:00AM**  
\---------

The ride was awkward to start, it wasn't often that you were alone with Nero and whenever you were, he was the one to be talking about something. You weren't particularly nervous in front of the guy himself, it's just that you had no idea what you were getting into and you had no clue what to even ask or talk about at this point. Eventually Nero picked up on the tense mood you were exuding and spoke up.

"Hey, I'm sorry for throwing you into this so suddenly. You haven't really gotten a chance to do or say much for the past few weeks. Now we're pushing you to fight."

You let out a small sigh and smile at him "With what you guys do, I don't blame you for making use of everything you can. I've already told you guys that I want to help, so let's just get out there and you can show me what's what. If anything, I'm determined to get my memory back, and if fighting demons can do that, I'm more than pleased to aid you."

The man chuckled, it was a nice change from the stress and anger he was producing earlier, "Well, your attitude about this is pretty nice, I gotta say."

"I try." you reply, feeling the weight lift off your chest a little. "Oh, by the way, you mentioned that V guy was gonna be there, right? Is he a demon hunter, too?"

Nero took a moment to respond, gripping the steering wheel a bit tighter as he rummaged through his thoughts a moment, "I don't know who or _what_ he is, honestly. Hell, I don't even know if we can trust him. All I know is he was the one who suggested I bring you along today."

Immediately you noticed two things in what the man said. "What do you mean about ' _what_ ' he is?" you ask, very confused. "Also, why would he suggest bringing me? I didn't make much of an impression last time, and I don't look very fighting fit as it is."

"He's got this weird as shit bird and some kind of... big rock dude." he stroked his chin "I'm not sure why he wanted me to bring you, though. Something about 'a feeling the girl would be useful' or some shit." he shrugged. "If it weren't for the emergency, I wouldn't have brought you out here yet."

"Huh." you spoke simply, very unsure of what to say about all that, "Anyway, what makes him untrustworthy to you? I mean, other than the fact that you barely know him."

"He seems a bit too secretive for my liking. Never been a fan of the dark, mysterious type."

It was understandable that Nero be cautious, especially given the state of things recently. The cane-wielding man certainly did give off quite a mysterious vibe when you first met him, not to mention the first thing he said was what you assumed to be from some kind of poem or story... very unusual. Still, you found it hard to believe the man was all bad after recalling the familiarity you felt from him as he revealed himself that day. You decided to remain to keeping that information to yourself however, as it wouldn't benefit Nero to know such a thing at this point. Your thoughts and feelings are still all over the place, and you haven't remembered anything else since that day a couple weeks ago, so it went without saying that you'd keep personal feeling on the down-low until you could grasp them better. Hopefully today would prove fruitful to your memory recovering journey, even if only a tiny bit.

\---------  
**17 MAY 11:31AM**  
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You and Nero arrived in Red Grave within the hour, managing to chat away most of the travel time as your co-worker did what he could to educate you before your first demon encounter. The roots quite noticeably spread in the past couple weeks, though it looked like a lot of the city near the outer reaches was still in tact and functioning yet. In the distance, presumably near the city center, you could see a large protrusion towering above the city - that must be the demon tree that had been previously mentioned. "Is it... still growing?" you ask.

"Hell if I know." Nero replied, now slowing down the vehicle "Looks like we're here - there's V." he pointed toward the man who was dressed in all black, leaning against a wall cane in one hand, a book opened in the other.

You had thought the familiarity would have faded by the time you next met him, yet you couldn't help but feel it again upon examining the man for a second time. Just then, out of the corner of your eye you see a streak of blue in the sky, rapidly descending toward the van. "Nero, what the hell is _that_?" you question, pointing toward what you could now tell was a large bird.

The silver-haired man leaned forward to get a better view out of the slightly dirty windshield before looking at you, "That's his weird bir-" just before Nero could finish, the blue mass of feathers landed on the van's hood, and much to your surprise, began speaking.

"Hey, look who it is, V, it's the dead weight himself! Welcome back, buddy!" the new, slightly comical voice teased immediately upon recognizing Nero. Before you could surmise Nero's attitude toward the bird, a twinge of pain entered your skull - nothing too unbearable, but it did cause you to raise your hand to your face as you visibly winced. Your vision and hearing seemed to function in slow motion for just a moment before you heard the sound of metal tapping on metal in your right ear.

"Are you unwell?" a velvety voice asked through the open window beside you, immediately bringing you back into reality.

"Oh, no, I'm fine." you reply as you bring your hand down from your face and glance out of the passenger seat window. The tattooed man was looking up at you with a certain smug emotion on his face that made you feel a little uncomfortable. Luckily you didn't have to dwell on that too long though, because the oh-so-lovely sounds of man arguing with bird could be heard to your left. By this point Nero was fully leaned out the window in the midst of a full-on argument and you couldn't even blame him -- the bird seemed a bit of a loud mouth.

"Hate to break up the lover's quarrel here you two, but shouldn't we be heading out?" you suggest in a humorous attempt to shut the two up. Unfortunately all it did was cause Nero to glare at you for a second before stepping out of the vehicle, continue to rant at the bird who was simply just laughing at him now.

You sigh and open your door, making sure your stock of healing salves and poisons were secured in the handy satchel Nico gave to you just before your departure to the city. With everything in check, you step down out of the van and find yourself right next to the man known as V. You hadn't noticed it before since you were a decent distance away from him last time you met, but this man was quite tall. A good several inches taller.

"Uh, so, I heard you were the one to suggest I come today." you say in an attempt to drown out the arguing duo in the background and hopefully break the ice in the process.

"Correct. You seemed all too eager to help when last we met." he shifted his weight onto his cane, "Though I have been told you lack experience."

The way this man carried his sentences out in a drawl was pleasant to listen to, almost hypnotic in fact, however it had a certain quality to it that made you vaguely anxious as well. His mannerisms were very much different than the rabble you'd been hanging around lately so you found it hard to relax around.

"That's right. This'll be my first time even seeing a demon, honestly." you respond with a nervous chuckle, attempting to hide your fear. You purposely held back the fact that you're amnesiac and that's why you lack experience; your new comrade didn't need to know that right now.

" 'Honorable is the truth', though try not to be so afraid... lest it lead to our demise." the mysterious man said, reading your body language as clear as he reads the book in his hand.

"Uh, yeah. Thanks." you felt a bit uncomfortable around this man, though you couldn't decide if it was because of the fact that he's a total stranger or because of the way his eyes seemed to stare right through your soul when he looked at you. It was most likely both. Either way, you decided to divert attention onto your silver haired co-worker before you had a chance to get too awkward. "Hey, Nero! Where are we headed anyway?" you ask, raising your voice over the continued commotion between man and bird. He almost seemed like he was having fun, but luckily he heard your question.

"We have to walk from here, but it's close." he said plainly, pointing to an alley a few paces away, a stark contrast to the sassy words he was sharing with the strange blue creature a second ago.

"Hey, hey, who do we got here?" the other voice squawked in your direction "V, you shoulda told me this wasn't gonna be a total sausage party, I would have dressed up!" the big bird laughed, now perching itself on top of the van, eyeing you up and down not-so-subtly. He was certainly interesting to look at: deep blue feathers with red accents and a large, black beak that split into two at the lower mandible. You couldn't help but think that it was a shame he seemed a bit sleazy as he talked because otherwise he was quite gorgeous.

"Hey, keep it in your pants birdie, I don't think you're quite her type." Nero joked as he made sure his weapons were in workable positions on his back. He sure has a way with being comfortable in any situation -- a quality you wish you shared at this extremely awkward point in time.

Dumbfounded, you stood there completely unsure of what to say for a few seconds. This whole situation sounded like a bad joke to you " _An amnesiac, a talking bird, and two guys walk into a bar_..." you thought to yourself, further emphasizing the sheer ridiculousness of the picture in front of you.

"Anyway, shall we?" you finally manage to suggest, motioning to the alleyway Nero pointed out earlier and totally ignoring the playful banter a moment prior. You were 99.9% certain that the whole city could pick up on how uneasy you were at this point; you were practically oozing with awkwardness. The silver lining here was that if the men among you could feel how tense you were, they didn't say anything about it due to what you could only assume was simple courtesy to a newbie.

\---------  
**17 MAY 11:58AM**  
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Nero ended up walking a decent distance in front of you as he knew precisely where the group was headed, but V stayed behind matching your stride a couple meters or so away. Unfortunately, the man being this close also meant the yappy bird was close as well, and oh yes did he take the chance to continue yapping. You didn't necessarily find it annoying so much as a little bit overbearing, as if his voice was being thrust directly into your entire being at times. Strange feeling, but not too bad to deal with, all things considered.

V himself seemed very quiet, clearly used to the bird's chatty mannerisms, but you found yourself wishing he was the one speaking more - at least his voice was fairly pleasant to listen to. Of course, upon thinking such a thing the man spoke up as if he had read your mind, in fact, the timing was so good you half expected him to have done exactly that.

"Your weapon, it looks... interesting. May I ask of its purpose?" his question was music to your ears at this point, especially because the bird seemed to quiet down when he spoke.

You lift your right arm up and lightly jostle the fastened tool around a bit before snatching a random mixture from your pouch and holding it out in front of you, "It's a simple launcher made for high-speed poison delivery. I just put this little guy in here, pull this little lever and off it goes." you mimicked the actions you practiced with Nico earlier, hoping to get your point across in an understandable fashion before stowing your mixture back in its place.

The mysterious man smirked and looked at your weapon before shifting his gaze to meet yours, "Support is of vital importance - I do hope we can count on you."

Before you had time to thank him for the kind words and assure him of your intent to watch the team's backs, the blue bird's squawking began once again. "Well you better watch where you're throwin' that shit missy, cause I ain't in the business of dyin'."

This time you felt comfortable enough to legitimately respond to the bird, if only to educate him on your craft for a minute. "These poisons are made to absorb into my target's skin almost instantaneously, so as long as you stay out of my way you'll be fine." your explanation sounded more threatening than you had intended.

V chuckled, "It appears the lady knows what she is doing."

"Well as long as she doesn't do it to me, we'll be dandy." the bird whined, prompting a smirk from his partner.

You felt the earlier wave of awkwardness move away from your mind as the banter kept you focusing on something else. Now it was your turn to inquire about your new partner's weaponry.

"So what about you, how do you take down these demons?" you vaguely understood that his noisy companion _may_ be how he fights given the fact that the man used a cane a seemed a tad feeble, but even Nero seemed unsure when he briefed you on the situation, so you weren't sure what was the truth.

"How about a demonstration?" V replied calmly, pointing his cane at an area in front of the group, alerting you to about 6 slimy-looking demonic portals now opening up close by.

You could swear your heart stopped for a moment upon seeing the nasty bug-like creatures appearing from out of nowhere. Nero on the other hand was ecstatic, unsheathing his blade and moving toward the scene immediately. V and his companion moved onward as well, their experience in battle showing itself in that moment.

For a minute you could only stare in stunned silence as the trio moved around the battlefield in preparation for attack, each displaying their intent with sheer vigor and grace. Before you could observe their attacking patterns to figure out where you'd put yourself amidst the utter chaos of this brand new situation, you heard a disgusting squelching noise from behind you. Turning around revealed a large demonic ant-like creature just like those the guys were fighting, though you could make out every little detail now with it being only a few feet away. The only thing you cared to notice for the moment though, were the large pincers jutting out of its face, ready to strike at any second.

You gasped in terror as the monster lunged right at your head, and by the grace of whatever god is out there, you managed to hit the floor avoiding the attack completely. Adrenaline started rushing through your veins as you rolled over and stood back up, unfortunately for you, the demon bug was already making its next move, lunging at you once again. You instinctively brought your right arm up to your face in an attempt to guard yourself, letting the creatures mandibles latch onto the reinforced metal of your weapon just a few inches from your face. Your left hand worked swiftly, opening your satchel and pulling out a vial of poison in mere seconds.

With your launcher compromised there was only one thing you could think to do. In that moment you used all your strength to push the creature back, making it release its grip on your arm and thereby leaving you the opening you needed. Without thinking, you lunge forward as you pull the cork out of the small bottle and stuff it down the bug's throat with a loud grunt, withdrawing back against the wall swiftly after the intensely risky play.

The bug screeched bloody murder as its mouth began to produce a frothy, swampy green substance and its neck broke out into various bubbling pustules which proceeded to multiply rapidly across its demonic frame. Not long after, it collapsed while its bubbling skin began producing the same material coming from its mouth, though it was now melting the entire body. It was a rather disgusting scene, but with adrenaline still kicking you hard in the brain, you stood there watching your victim suffer as easily as you'd watch Nico beat Nero at cards.

As you stand there leaned against the wall, breathing heavily after the sudden encounter, you hear a familiar noise - Nero's voice.

"Hey, that was pretty damn good!" he said, pointing his finger at the pile of greenish slop that used to be a demon a minute prior. "You didn't even need me, I'm impressed!"

You smiled and started saying something, but before any words could make it out, pain zapped your thoughts causing you to collapse to your knees where you stood. You winced and gripped your forehead, losing touch with reality for just a second before you felt Nero's hand on your shoulder. His voice was distorted, but after a minute the pain stopped and you were able to focus to some capacity again.

"Shit, what happened? You ok?" your comrade asked, keeping his hand on your shoulder, helping to stabilize you.

"I'm fine, I think I just got a little too excited." you respond, purposely downplaying what you felt so the man wouldn't worry about you. After all, there were likely many more demons than this to take care of today and you'd rather not hold anyone back.

"So those were demons, huh?" you ask as you stood up with your silver-haired comrade's aid.

"Yeah, we call those pieces of shit Empusa. They're usually too stupid to see us coming but it looks like we were somehow predicted this time." Nero said, scoping around for any further threat before clapping you on the shoulder and popping a thumbs up at you. "I guess we know how your, uh, stuff effects demons now though."

You turn your gaze to the pile of slop on the ground about a meter away from your current position - it was no longer recognizable as a demon, or anything, really. "Shit." you uttered quietly, now experiencing the shock you had no time to feel earlier. You brought a hand to your chest in an attempt to slow your rapidly beating heart at the very recent memory of your first quarrel with a demon.

" 'The weak in courage is strong in cunning...' '' you heard a short distance behind you and Nero before V stepped into the picture leaning over his cane, observing your handiwork on the melted corpse. "...However, it seems courage has since found its way to you as well."

You're not sure if he intended it, but his words were extremely motivating, greatly aiding in your attempts to calm down. " _Yeah, that did take confidence_." you told yourself before allowing a much needed deep breath to escape from the confines of your tightened chest.

"I was so busy over here I didn't get to help you guys, I apologize." you manage to say in response to your team mates' helpful actions.

"Ah, don't sweat it. You'll have plenty of chances to show us what you're made of." Nero said, calmly starting toward the next destination, a big grin on his face all the while. He really was enjoying this.

You smiled in return and followed the man, V close behind as well. "Hey, where's the bird?" you ask, now noticing how extra quiet the air had been after the battle.

"Griffon scouts ahead." the mysterious man replied coolly, looking up toward the sky.

" _Griffon_." you noted. At least you had a name for the feathery fellow now. "Oh, ok." you said in response, not wishing for further conversation for the moment in order to relish the break between fights.

Breaks were something you learned to take advantage of very quickly in the coming hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience with this chapter!  
> From this point forward the slow burn truly begins... look forward to chapter 4 very soon. >:)


End file.
